Dancing With The Stars

A week after Playboy founder Hugh Hefnerannounced on twitter that Karina Smirnoffhad posed nude for the May issue of the mag, many are still surprised and wondering why she made that choice.

Well, the Dancing With The Stars pro is explaining just that via excerpts from her interview with Playboy. “I’m fearless and love the adrenaline rush,” Karina, 32, tells the mag. “Sexy is the confident energy a person produces. Sexy is the comfortable feeling of being who you are.”

PEOPLE also reports that the higher ups at DWTS are not upset with Karina for posing nude. “They did know ahead of time and they still gave her one of the best pairings,” reveals a source.

According to the site, the two went on a first date on Friday night. As for how the date came about, TMZ states it all started with Pia who developed a crush on Mark as they both shoot their respective shows on the CBS Television City lot in L.A.

Pia apparently had her eye on Mark for weeks and decided to give her friend a piece of paper with her number on it. That friend handed it to DWTS contestant Chris Jericho, who then passed it on to Mark.

Mark was said to have been more than receptive and even rescheduled a music video shoot so he could go on their date on Friday. The two are said to be smitten and plan to do it all again soon. A photo of Mark and Pia after their date is below!

Pia seems to be having a pretty good week as it was also reported she scored herself a record deal less than 24 hours after her Idol elimination.

Playboy honcho Hugh Hefneractually broke the news on twitter Wednesday. “The May issue of Playboy is unforgettable with Dancing With The Stars‘ Karina Smirnoff on the cover & nude inside,” Hugh, 84, tweeted.

For the time being, Karina, 33, is remaining mum on her nude pictorial while a Popeater report states the Playboy spread might get her in trouble with DWTS.

“If Karina posed naked, she can kiss her dancing days goodbye,” a ‘DWTS’ insider stated. “I hope for Karina’s sake that this isn’t true.”

The reason? Apparently the folks at ABC feel having one of their dancers pose naked during an ongoing season could “soil” the wholesome image of the show.

It should however be pointed out that Playboy Playmate Kendra Wilkinson is currently a contestant on the show plus Holly Madison participated in the show a few years back. Also, show host Brooke Burke has appeared in the mag before.

The Popeater report does state the issue with Karina is that she will be appearing in the mag while the show is currently on the air. Karina, who got engaged to professional baseball player Brad Pennyback in November, has also received some criticism from fans who wonder why she has decided to pose nude. Bikini photos of Karina below!

TELL US – THOUGHTS ON KARINA POSING NUDE? IF ABC IS UPSET, IS IT HYPOCRITICAL?

The good news is that all is “fine” with Maksim’s thigh as he thanked the fans for their “overwhelming” support. He added, “You’re going to need a stretcher to get me out of here.” As for Maksim’s partner Kirstie Alley, she was ready for a new topic. “You’re so pretty Brooke Burke,” said Kirstie when asked by Brooke to walk us through the fall. “Let’s change the subject.”

So on to the next subject which is who was sent packing? For the second week in a row, the lowest scorer got the boot as Wendy Williams and her partner Tony Dovolani were eliminated.

“This has been a wonderful opportunity. I want to thank the judges and I want to thank Tony for teaching me how to dance,” said Wendy, 46. “Despite stereotypes, this is one black girl who can’t even doing the running man!”

Wendy added that she was excited to get back to her normal routine. “I’m probably the busiest person in terms of flying back and forth. I have a marriage, a child and a litany of other things to hold together.”

Meanwhile, after having endured a somewhat embarrassing fall yesterday, Kirstie wants the world to know she is still standing strong. The 60-year-old actress hit up a tattoo parlor with Cheryl Burke late Monday and got the word “Unbroken” tattooed on her wrist.

“No longer broken… In body or spirit,” tweeted Kirstie later adding, “Just FYI… I was planning on getting a tattoo for awhile. Your votes sealed it. Thanks for al the great ideas….xxoxo.” Photos of Kirstie’s tattoo below.

It’s week 3 on Dancing With The Stars and the theme of this week was storytelling as each star had to tell a personal tale of love, loss, triumph or heartache.

But first things first as the big story of the night was pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy, 31, who took a fall on the dance floor bringing down his partner Kirstie Alley, 60. “My thigh just gave out. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Maksim told the judges afterwards. “It has nothing to do with her.” Photos of the fall below.

The fall didn’t seem to affect their scores as the pair managed to earn a 21 for their rumba dance. Meanwhile the real stars of the night were model Petra Nemcova and NFL player Hines Ward, as they both earned the first 9s of the season. Petra finished the night with a high score of 25 for her “beautiful” waltz while Hines also tied for first place, after receiving a 25 score for his samba dance which he dedicated to his mom who was sitting in the front row.

Kendra Wilkinson showed some improvement earning her highest score of the season – a 23 for her hot rumba, which told the tale of her romance with NFL player Hank Baskett. Judge Len praised her “beautiful feet” and “gorgeous leg activity.”

Failing to show any improvement was talk show host Wendy Williams who continued to struggle. Wendy earned the lowest score of the night, a 15 for her foxtrot.

“It’s been nothing but a pleasurable experience,” said Mike, 32, of his time on the show. “It sucks to be sent home first, but I’ve made a lot of good friends,” he added. “America obviously knows that Lacey Schwimmer is a beautiful person on the outside, but everybody needs to know she’s equally, if not more, beautiful on the inside. I’ve made a lifelong friend.”

Do not feel sorry for Mike yet as there continues to be rumblings that he is being considered to replace Regis Philbin on Live With Regis & Kelly. Mike, a guest host on the show recently, confirmed ABC has invited him back to co-host a future episode.

Singer Chris Brown performed two songs on the show last night and it all went without a glitch as no windows were broken nor was he interviewed by show host Tom Bergeron. See, following Chris’s outburst at GMA last week, there had been some controversy surrounding his DWTS performance.

Tom went on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show this week and stated “I did tell the producers it may be to their advantage to not have me interview him.” The reason? “Don’t put me in a position where you’re asking me to not say something,” said Tom, adding “cause I won’t really do that. Even if it’s just a snarky little aside, you know, ‘How was your week?'”

Also, dancer Cheryl Burke spoke out against Chris this week. “As a victim of domestic violence, I don’t agree with him coming on the show, but it’s out of my control,” said Cheryl to Extra. Wendy Williams also stated on her talk show last week that she was “disgusted with this little boy” following his GMA incident.

Next week, the stars return to compete on Monday night with a clean slate.

It’s week two on Dancing With The Stars, and unlike the first week, there was more at stake last night as somebody will be eliminated tonight.

This week, the dances were the quickstep or the jive. When it came to the scoreboard, not much changed from week 1 as the leaders of the pack performed well while others remained in danger of elimination.

There was a three way tie for first place with Romeo, Hines Ward, and Chris Jericho each earning 23 points. While Hines received praises for his quick step, judge Len Goodman went as far as to declare Romeo’s quick step “the best dance of the night.”

Meanwhile, the top scorers from last week, Kirstie Alley and Ralph Macchio, fell a bit this week, garnering 20 and 21 points respectively. Ralph received some criticism for his jive with Carrie Ann Inaba telling him he needed to be “sharper.” Kirstie received praises from the judges for her energetic quickstep with partner Maksim, which ended with a “spontaneous” kiss by the way. “I love watching you dance,” said Carrie Ann.

As for Kendra Wilkinson, she continued to struggle, only improving a point from the previous week, with a score of 19. Wendy Williams also showed some slight improvement with a score of 17 for her high spirited jive. Also scoring 17 was hotnessMike Catherwood, though the cumulative total from both weeks puts him at the bottom of the scoreboard. And model Petra Nemcova scored another 18 for the second week in a row.

The stars’ scores this week will be added to last week’s points. That total will be combined with the viewers’ votes to determine who’ll be the first to go this season. The results show airs tonight on ABC at 9/8c. Chris Brown is also scheduled to perform on the show.

Below is the leaderboard. In parentheses are the scores from last night, alongside the total from both weeks –

Front runner Kendra Wilkinson did not come out on top despite being declared the early favorite. Kendra found herself closer to the bottom of the pack, only scoring an 18 for her cha cha dance.

The biggest surprise of the night however was 60-year-old Kirstie Alley who wowed both the audience and the judges with her high spirited cha cha dance, earning a score of 23. Kirstie and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy brought a lot of fun, energy and silliness into their dance. In fact, judge Bruno Tonioli declared it “the best of the night.”

And while Kirstie earned the highest score in the cha cha category, the ‘Karate Kid’ Ralph Macchio scored the highest points of the night, garnering a 24 for his foxtrot with partner Karina Smirnoff. “What an amazing surprise!” said Carrie Ann Inaba. “It shocked me that you had such elegance.” Len Goodman went on to declare his performance “the best foxtrot tonight.”

Failing to sizzle was talk show queen Wendy Williams, who earned a low score of 14 for her stiff cha cha with partner Tony Dovolani, who Wendy did not know who he was during their first meeting. USA Today‘sAnn Oldenburg called Wendy’s performance “awful” adding that “the talk show host was stiffer than Kate Gosselinwhen she took the floor for her cha cha cha.” Ouch.

Promising were Disney starlet Chelsea Kane and NFL player Hines Ward. Next Monday, all of the 11 stars will return to the ballroom for a new dance. Votes and scores from the first two weeks will be combined to determine who goes home on the first live results show next Tuesday, March 29.

Kendra, who is the early on favorite to win, reveals her strategy to win this season will be to show off some skin! “If I’m going to go skimpy, I’m going skimpiest,” said Kendra to Extra, adding that her hubby Hank Baskett does not mind. “He’s like, ‘If you’re going to do this, go all in, and don’t be shy about anything.'”

Kendra also reveals she experienced her first injury when she hurt her toe while rehearsing with partner Louis Van Amstel. “I wasn’t wearing my closed-toe ballroom shoes. I was wearing the cha-cha shoes, and I jammed my freakin’ toe in his foot. It hurt really bad.” She added, “No pain, no gain, right?”

Meanwhile, dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy reveals he and his celeb partner Kirstie are actually working well together. “Her strengths are that she wants to do it. She just wants to dance. Sometimes I think she forgets what we are doing,” Maksim dished to In Touch Weekly “I’m like, ‘It’s a show!’ and she’s like, ‘no, just teach me [the steps], I want to dance!’”

The 11 celebrities will either dance the foxtrot or the cha cha cha tonight while the first elimination won’t take place until Tuesday, March 29.

The DWTS two-hour premiere kicks off at 8/7c.

TELL US – ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT TONIGHT’S PREMIERE? WHO ARE YOU ROOTING FOR THIS SEASON?